HomeMy WebLinkAboutEditionEdina_December-2023-WebNew Apartments Like ‘Living in the White House’
Forty-Forty Flats Offers Much-Needed Affordable Housing for Seniors
BY DEBBIE TOWNSEND
On the day Forty-Forty Flats opened in
late October, Laurie Keister was the very
first tenant as she moved into a fourth-
floor end unit.
“It has a walk-in closet that’s huge,” she
said. “And the open kitchen style is great.
It has lots of windows. I have six of them
across the side, and they are all Andersen
windows. It’s like living in the White
House to me.”
Forty-Forty Flats, at 4040 W. 70th St., is
the first affordable housing development
fully dedicated to seniors that’s been built
in Edina since 1991. More than 1,600
single-family homes have been built in
Edina since 1993 (that’s as far back as the
City’s digital system data goes), yet these
are the first 118 affordable units built just
for seniors in that time.
And they are much needed. More than
a third of Edina’s population is age 55 or
older, according to the U.S. Census.
“Affordable senior housing is a need,
and it wasn’t happening organically,
so we needed to make it happen,”
said Affordable Housing Development
Manager Stephanie Hawkinson. Even with
Forty-Forty Flats, only 353 affordable units
have been approved out of a City goal of
1,804 units by 2030.
Following the lead of other nearby cities,
Edina lent the Edina Housing Foundation
the money to compete for the land on
the open market. To ensure long-term
affordability, the Foundation retained the
land title. Lupe Development Partners,
experts in affordable housing, and
Ecumen, specialists in senior housing,
formed a partnership to build attractive
housing with modern amenities and
features for people to age in place.
Forty-Forty Flats has everything from
a community room and rooftop patio
to resident gardens and underground
parking. Ecumen staff are on hand to
assist residents.
“People are so excited to have a
community like this in the heart of Edina,”
said Jen Massa, Housing Manager for
Ecumen, “and we just want to make it
easy for them to create a home here.”
Rents range from $905 for a studio
to $1,751 for the larger two-bedroom
units. Seniors with 30 to 80 percent
of the Hennepin County Area Median
Income qualify. That’s currently between
$27,580 and $79,520 a year. The highest
Social Security benefits are less than
that maximum.
Forty-Forty Flats is drawing interest from
a variety of seniors, according to Massa.
Some are downsizing from homes yet
want to stay in the community. Some
Forty-Forty Flats (left) offers 118 affordable units for seniors. (Photo by Reham Alemam)
Laurie Keister (right), standing on a balcony of Forty-Forty Flats, was so eager to get into the new
affordable housing for seniors that she moved in before the exterior landscaping was finished.
(Photo by Jason Heuer)
want to move closer to their children and
grandchildren or are looking for senior-
focused housing. Others, like Keister,
want to live near their medical services.
“I chose it because I’m moving closer to
my friends, my physicians and my medical
team. It’s better for my quality of health,”
Keister said. “I like that I can quickly be at
my job less than five miles away. And I like
to volunteer at VEAP, and it’s close by.”
She’s hoping to meet the other residents,
make new friends and explore more of this
section of Edina.
“Edina is the place to be,” Keister said.
Learn more about this housing at
ecumen.org/forty-forty-flats or by calling
952-232-0001. For more information about
affordable housing in Edina, contact
Hawkinson at shawkinson@EdinaMN.gov
or 952-833-9578.
City of Edina EdinaMN.gov 1
Edition: Edina
DECEMBER 2023
Volume 10, Issue 12Strong FoundationCITY GOALS:Better TogetherReliable Service Livable City
BY LAUREN SIEBENALER
Southdale Center has reestablished its in-
house partnership with the Edina Police
Department and plans to open the doors
of a new police substation early next year.
Prior to 2020, the Edina Police Department
had a space in the basement of Southdale
where officers were able to provide police
services from behind the scenes. The substation
had been in placed for decades, but closed
in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Southdale Center has had a lot of
momentum with a variety of new tenants
and offerings. To keep safety at the forefront,
the shopping mall has contracted for
additional Edina Police Department services
starting in 2024. As part of those services,
the substation will move from the basement
to the first floor, near the busy Hennepin
County offices and children’s play area.
“The safety and comfort of our guests, our
tenants and our employees is very important
as we continue to build on the community
center we have here,” said Southdale Center
General Manager Judy Tullius. “We want to
make sure the experience is a good one and
having the substation in the location near
the Hennepin County Service Center means
that the police will be highly visible and will
have easy access to the entire center. It is just
a really good fit for both Southdale Center
and the City of Edina. We are pretty excited
about our partnership.”
Southdale Center has had a lot of big changes
in the last 10 years or so with the addition
of One Southdale Place apartments, Lifetime
Fitness and Lifetime Work, Homewood
Suites and Restoration Hardware. After those
opened, the COVID-19 pandemic began and
Southdale’s momentum slowed down for a
little while. Edina Police left Southdale at this
time to help out in other areas of the city.
But now, in addition to welcoming the Edina
Police to Southdale, the mall will welcome
Kowalski’s, Puttshack and Peoples Organic in
what was the Herberger’s space. Southdale
has plans to redevelop the dining area and
add a new wing to the mall. Several new
retailers are being added throughout the mall,
including national and local businesses.
“We are going back to where we started 67
years ago when architect Victor Gruen created
a mixed-use center — one where people
could work, live, play, shop, eat, buy groceries,”
said Tullius. “With our current comprehensive
transformation, we are poised to become the
epicenter of Edina. That is our goal.”
Building the substation, which is being paid for by
Southdale Center, is expected to start this month.
The Center also will pay part of the salaries of the
two officers who will be working there.
“If we were to have a major event at the mall,
now we have those resources on site to help
logistically,” said Police Chief Todd Milburn. “It’s
also about that relationship building. In the past,
a police presence has provided a really good
conduit for mall staff, storefront owners or renters
to have a liaison within the Police Department.
We continue to see a significant rise in shoplifting
across the country, and we want to be there to
help deter that and provide a response.”
Officers Sean Young and Mike Seeger will serve
as the Retail Crime Investigators at Southdale
Center. Starting Jan. 1, one officer will work out
of the previous basement offices and be on site.
Once the substation is finished, they will both
move into it and work from there. The property
is now routinely patrolled by officers during their
shifts. Young and Seeger’s job duties will be
similar to what they are now – patrolling the mall,
deterring crime and providing help if issues arise.
The contract for police services between Edina
Police Department and Southdale Center is for
two years.
For more information on Southdale Center, visit
Simon.com/Mall/Southdale-Center. For more
information on the Edina Police Department,
visit EdinaMN.gov/Police.
Southdale Center Police Substation to Open Next Year
Two Edina Police Retail Crime Investigators Will Support the Mall
Officer Mike Seeger will be one of two Retail Crime
Investigators at the Southdale Substation, which will
be located across from the Hennepin County Western
Service Center. (Photo by Lauren Siebenaler)
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sunday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m.
Good News Big Band, Edinborough Park
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.
City Council meeting, Edina City Hall
Thursday, Dec. 7- Friday, Dec. 15
Hanukkah
Thursday, Dec. 7, 1:30 p.m.
Ugly Sweater Party, Edina Senior Center
Friday, Dec. 8, 4 p.m.
Photos with Santa,
Centennial Lakes Park
Friday, Dec. 8, 5:30 p.m.
Family Movie Night, “VIVO,”
Edinborough Park
Saturday, Dec. 9, 10 a.m.
Printmaking: Holiday Cards,
Edina Art Center
Sunday, Dec. 10, 6 p.m.
Scott Liebers (Guitar), Edinborough Park
Monday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m.
City Council meeting, Edina City Hall
Thursday, Dec. 14, 7:30 a.m.
Housing & Redevelopment Authority
meeting, Edina City Hall
Saturday, Dec. 16, 9 a.m.
Walk with the Mayor, Southdale Center
Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.
Holiday Ornaments, Edina Art Center
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m.
City Council meeting, Edina City Hall
Sunday, Dec. 24
Christmas Eve
Monday, Dec. 25
Christmas, City offices closed
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 6 p.m.
Family Full Moon Snowshoe,
Braemar Golf Course.
Tuesday, Dec. 26-Sunday, Jan. 1
Kwanzaa
Sunday, Dec. 31, 9 a.m.-Noon or
2-5 p.m.
Family New Year’s Eve Party,
Edinborough Park
For a complete listing of meetings
and events, visit EdinaMN.gov.
Watch City Council, Housing & Redevelopment Authority and Planning
Commission meetings live:
• Edina TV (Comcast Channels 813 or 16)
• Facebook.com/EdinaMN
• “Watch a Meeting” web page at
EdinaMN.gov/LiveMeetings
2
3City of Edina EdinaMN.gov
BY BRITTANY BADER
When you pay your energy utility bills
each month, a small portion of your
bill, called a franchise fee, is given back
to the City of Edina to help fund City
projects. These franchise fees have
provided money for the Pedestrian and
Cyclist Safety (PACS) Fund since 2012
and the Conservation and Sustainability
(CAS) Fund since 2016.
At its Sept. 5 meeting, the Edina City
Council approved changes to CenterPoint
Energy and Xcel Energy franchise fees
for 2024. The changes include increasing
the fees by approximately 22% for all
property classes and adding the street
lighting program as a beneficiary of
the revenue. For residential customers,
monthly fees will increase from $2.90 to
$3.55 per utility.
While the PACS and CAS funds will
continue to be supported, most of the
additional revenue from the increases
will go toward maintaining Edina’s
approximately 3,000 streetlights.
Currently, about one-third of Edina’s
streetlights are owned and maintained
by the City. The others are owned and
maintained by Xcel Energy and leased
to the City through agreements. Many
lights are 20-25 years old and are at the
end of their useful life.
To improve the reliability of the street
lighting system in Edina, the City plans
to increase the rate at which old lights
are replaced and transition ownership
of all except those at Parks & Recreation
facilities and in the 50th & France and
Grandview districts to Xcel over 25 years.
“The biggest thing is that financially, we
can’t own and operate all the streetlights
as a city,” said Engineering Director Chad
Millner. If we did, taxes would be much
higher, and we don’t have the staffing
to keep up. We’d have huge increases
in the amount of money for equipment
and operations, but then we’d also have
to increase the budget to add more
electricians to take care of the lights.
Even the one-third we own today is too
expensive for us to maintain. So, the
benefit of leasing most of the streetlights
is paying a smaller amount every month
to Xcel, and then we keep taxes lower
regarding streetlights.”
The current budget for street lighting is
$555,000 per year and is paid for out of
the City’s General Fund. This allows for
about 20-25 lights to be replaced and
converted to Xcel ownership per year.
The goal is to increase this to 50 lights per
year by 2028 and is estimated to cost an
additional $565,000 per year over the life
of the 25-year transition.
In 2024, the new franchise fee revenue
will generate $300,000 to help offset the
cost of this initiative. Future franchise fee
increases will be reviewed in 2025 and 2027
by staff and utility companies and potentially
take effect in 2026 and 2028 with City
Council approval. If approved, estimated
revenues for street lighting in those years
are $600,000 and $750,0000, respectively.
“Once we get to 2028, we’d probably
be pretty close to being able to support
the street lighting program with just the
franchise fees to where we can start to
look at maybe reducing some of those
dollars that come from the General Fund,”
said Millner.
For more information, contact
Millner at cmillner@EdinaMN.gov
or 952-826-0318.
Edina City Council Approves Utility Franchise Fee Increases for 2024
Energy Bill Payments Will Soon Support Maintenance of the City’s 3,000 Streetlights
CenterPoint Energy Monthly Franchise Fees
Customer Classification Current Effective Jan. 1, 2024
Residential $2.90 $3.55
Firm A $4.90 $6
Firm B $13.68 $17
Firm C $58.32 $71
Small Volume, Dual Fuel A (SVDF A)$58.32 $71
Small Volume, Dual Fuel B (SVDF B)$58.32 $71
Large Volume, Dual Fuel (LVDF)$58.32 $71
Distribution of CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy Franchise Fees
Year Revenue PACS CAS Street Lighting
2022 $2,176,000 $1,227,000 $949,000 $0
2024 $2,714,000 $1,361,000 $1,053,000 $300,000
2026
(Estimated;
Requires future
approval)
$3,344,000 $1,547,000 $1,197,000 $600,000
2028
(Estimated;
Requires future
approval)
$4,100,000 $1,889,000 $1,461,000 $750,000
Xcel Energy Monthly Franchise Fees
Customer Classification Current Effective Jan. 1, 2024
Residential $2.90 $3.55
Small Commercial and Industrial — Non-Demand $4.90 $6
Small Commercial and Industrial — Demand $13.68 $17
Large Commercial and Industrial $58.32 $71
952-927-8861 | mail@EdinaMN.govCity of Edina EdinaMN.gov4
Edina Voters Approve Braemar Arena Expansion
Design Work to Begin in January
BY DEBBIE TOWNSEND
Edina voters have approved using an
existing sales tax to pay for improvements
at Braemar Arena, including adding a
fourth sheet of indoor ice.
The amendment to the spending plan
for the half-cent sales tax passed with
66 percent of the Nov. 7 vote.
It will fund $31.7 million in improvements.
The South Rink will be demolished and
replaced with two new rinks. The lobby
will be upgraded, more than 100 parking
spots will be added to the south lot and
the pick-up/drop-off area will receive
safety improvements. In November
2022, Edina voters initially approved
the tax to pay for investments in
Braemar Park and Fred Richards Park,
along with critical infrastructure
upgrades at Braemar Arena.
“Edina voters have continually shown
their support for our park and recreation
system,” said Parks & Recreation Director
Perry Vetter. “The vote to add additional
ice capacity and improve the safety of
visitors ensures that Braemar Arena meets
the current and future needs of the figure
- COMPILED BY REHAM ALEMAM
Dog licenses help the City bring your dog home if it is lost.
Dogs that are unidentified are transported to an animal shelter,
where charges and fees may occur. Licenses also help protect
public safety by ensuring dogs are properly vaccinated against
rabies. Go in person to the Edina Police Department or visit
EdinaMN.gov/DogLicenseForm to apply for a dog license.
Dog licenses expire
Dec. 31 of each year
31
2,000+
Dog licenses issued
each year by the City
BY THE NUMBERS
Dog Licenses
3
The maximum number
of dogs and cats allowed
per residence in Edina
Animal Control Officer
Tim Hunter says he picks
up about this number of
unattended dogs per year
30
The cost of a license for a spayed
or neutered dog. Licenses for
unaltered dogs cost $30.
$20
skaters, hockey players, users and patrons
in this community.”
Design work for the additional rink and other
improvements will begin in January. The
expansion and infrastructure projects will be
done in tandem to maximize efficiencies.
The vote does not increase the sales tax.
It will sunset in 19 years or when enough
money has been raised to pay for the voter-
approved projects, whichever comes first.
Learn more at EdinaAtPlay.org.
***ECRWSS***Residential Customer
PRESORT STD
U.S. POSTAGEPAIDTWIN CITIES MNPermit No. 3932
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